


What Now?

by bushViperCutie



Series: 'What Now?' young!sev One Shots [1]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Bathtubs, First Kiss, Flirting, Happy Ending, Hogwarts Prefects' Bathroom, Kissing, Reader-Insert, Swimming Pools
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-20
Updated: 2020-05-20
Packaged: 2021-03-02 21:14:53
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,715
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24293437
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bushViperCutie/pseuds/bushViperCutie
Summary: All of Hogwarts is forced out of the castle to participate in several activities throughout the grounds. It’s an awful time for both you and Severus Snape until you convince him to go along with your great idea.Part Two: Finding RoccoPart Three: Blue Heart
Relationships: Severus Snape/Reader, Severus Snape/You
Series: 'What Now?' young!sev One Shots [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1819177
Comments: 1
Kudos: 61





	What Now?

**Author's Note:**

> Pairing: young!severus X reader
> 
> Word Count: 3,700
> 
> Rating: T for teen
> 
> Warnings: Bullying, kissing
> 
> A/N: I hope you enjoy this as much as I enjoyed writing it :D
> 
> Originally Posted: 4/4/20 on tumblr @bush-viper-cutie
> 
> Part Two: Finding Rocco  
> Part Three: on to-do list/coming soon

—–

(y/n) = your name

(l/n) = last name

(y/h) = your house

—–  
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“Students, please may I have your attention,” Professor McGonagall stood at the podium waiting for the great hall to silence. “Thank you. As I hope all of you know – considering its been posted in your common rooms since last Friday – that today you must participate in physical education classes as requested by several concerned parents,” she looked out at certain students. “After breakfast please report to your assigned meeting spot out on the grounds.”

You turned your attention to your friend who was laughing and shaking her head.

“(y/n), can you believe it’s back? I thought we were lucky to have missed this when we started first year,” she had her last bite of pancake and stood up.

You groaned, “I heard they used to have students run laps around the pitch until they managed to catch a silver chicken. They said some ran for two days.”

You both headed out the great hall and made your way out of the castle towards the grounds. You raised your arm to your forehead, trying to block out the blinding sunlight. You had only just started walking and the summer heat was already getting to you. You would gladly retake the history final exam if it meant staying inside on a windless day like this.

“My slip says by the river. What’s your say?”

You took out the small folded parchment and read it out loud, “’Please attend the Quidditch Pitch.’ Oh no, do you think the chickens are real.”

“Good luck. Maybe if you pretend to get hurt you’ll sit it out. Don’t worry I won’t take points away from (y/h) if you do” she winked and turned to wave at a few other students waiting by the lake already.

Your heart started beating faster at the thought of having to perform physical activities in front of a bunch of random students. The notice in your common room stated that houses would not be kept together.

You walked onto the pitch and looked around at the few students sitting around waiting for things to begin. There were a handful of Ravenclaws, some Hufflepuffs, a couple of Gryffindors, and a few Slytherins already here.

You walked over to the grass and sat down, crossing your legs and looked towards the Professor, who was in a heated argument with one of the Slytherins.

“But I didn’t sign up for this one,” the Slytherin hissed, pointing at the ground harshly.

“Look. Maybe you forgot to turn in the slip and without a known preference your head of house placed you here.”

“I filled it in,” he raised his voice in agitation. “I handed it in after my potions class!”

“Well I’m sorry Mr. Snape. The one you signed up for must have been filled then. You will just have to manage,” the professor walked away into one of the locker rooms.

“Hey! Snivellus,” James Potter walked onto the pitch trailed by his three friends. “Nice to see you Snivellus! I didn’t know you were interested in Quidditch; didn’t think you’d ever get back on a broom after what happened first year.” James smiled, turning to his laughing friends.

The Slytherin boy lowered his head and clenched his fists, visibly shaking with anger. He turned and attempted to follow the professor in but got pushed out as the professor exited, shaking his head at him.

“Gather round please, students.”

You stood with everyone else and noticed James and Sirius Black had positioned themselves behind the Slytherin they called Snivellus and had started pulling on the ends of his black hair behind his head. The Slytherin boy did not flinch.

“Now, we will be splitting into four teams – is there enough of us? Yes – four teams and the pitch will be split in half. Two teams playing against each other on the left and two on the right meaning only one set of goal hoops to be shared between two teams. You will be riding the school brooms – no Mr. Potter you may not use your own broom – ” Sirius chuckled, “and now please lets have team captains…”

Sirius and James raised their hands instantly followed by a timid Hufflepuff and a Gryffindor girl. The teacher had them stand in a line in front of everyone else. James picked first followed by Sirius, both choosing their close friends immediately. Next was the other Gryffindor and last the Hufflepuff.

“(l/n),” Sirius pointed at you.

You jogged to stand behind him and the two other students as the captains continued picking. After another minute there were only four people left. The Hufflepuff picked: not the Slytherin boy. The Gryffindor girl picked: not the Slytherin boy.

“Sorry, James. Hate to do this to you mate,” Sirius said, picking the only other student that wasn’t the dark-haired Slytherin.

“Snape,” James grumbled.

The Slytherin hesitated before walking over, avoiding James’ elbow as he got to the back of his team’s line. You looked over at him and noticed he was staring at the ground, letting his raven hair cover most of his face even after the professor asked him to pay attention while the rules were being taught.

Sirius and James got paired up to play against each other so both teams went to stand by the sand under the hoops. You mounted your broom and kicked off lightly, hovering over the ground by only a few feet, still at eye level with everyone else.

Sirius pulled your team aside, “Alright. I’m a beater, along with you,” he pointed at the strongest looking person on the team. He assigned a Seeker and Keeper leaving you and two other girls as Chasers. Everyone split up with their new roles and took their positions.

You noticed Sirius lean in and whisper something at the other beater, pointing at the Slytherin and nodding. The professor flew over on a battered broom and readied the non-tournament-legal balls.

He dumped them into the air, “Just a few games of this until everyone switches activities,” and he blew the whistle.

The first few seconds were hectic, brooms flying in all directions and players almost colliding with each other. Your team was the first with the Quaffle, scoring ten points immediately for Sirius’ team. You noticed James had made himself a beater, holding a short stubby bat ready to swat at the Bludger Sirius had hit towards him.

After several more points scored, you realized the Bludger seemed to only be aimed at one student regardless what team was hitting at it. The poor Slytherin was dodging the Bludger left and right, holding onto the slow broom close to his chest. Sweat was glistening off his face and he kept having to pull back his long hair behind his ears to keep an eye on all the beaters.

“(y/n)! Catch!” one of your teammates threw the Quaffle at you and you pulled up, soaring up into the sky to stay ahead of the opposing team’s chasers. You dove down a few feet, catching them off guard and saw the hoops, unguarded.

James’ Keeper was distracted and laughing at the Slytherin, who was dangling off his broom. James and Sirius had stopped hitting the Bludgers and were just sitting, laughing as well. Without thinking about where you were aiming, you threw the Quaffle with all your strength, and watched it hit the Keeper square in the face.

At that same moment the Slytherin dropped several feet and hit the ground, landing on his side. A whistle blew in the distance and everyone touched down. The professor flew over and landed in front of the teams.

“I will start handing out detentions unless this foolishness comes to an end. Play by the rules or sit out,” the Professor looked around at everyone. “Mr. Snape, go to the hospital wing to get checked out.”

“I’ll go with him,” you said suddenly, surprising yourself.

Everyone looked at you, including the Slytherin boy.

You shrugged, “I need to cool off. It’s hot and unlike our captains I was actually playing the game.”

The teacher nodded, “Alright, go. But be quick.”

You headed out of the pitch, walking next to the Slytherin, who was limping and holding his side. The sun had risen higher in the sky and was now beating down at you. You fanned your face, hoping to feel any sort of wind. There was screaming and yelling all along the school grounds with all kinds of activities going on.

“You don’t have to actually walk with me. I’m fine,” the Slytherin’s voice was low and taut. He picked up the pace, taking long strides to keep ahead of you.

“Hey! Wait,” you started jogging, “What they were doing wasn’t ok. If you wanted to tell the professor I could go with you – “

He scoffed, “It may have escaped your notice, but no one cares. Not when it comes to them. Not ever.”

You slowed down, realizing he was right. You’d seen James and Sirius around and they always managed to get away with anything and everything around school.

You followed the Slytherin up the entrance steps, “What’s your name?”

He stopped and turned around, staring you down, “What’s it matter?”

You crossed your arms, “Because I only know you as Snivellus. And I’d like to not call you that.”

He looked down at the space between you both, running his tongue over his teeth behind closed lips. His eyes shifted back up to you, “Severus.”

You smiled, “Severus Snape, then?”

He nodded and turned, continuing towards the hospital wing but at a more normal pace. You walked down with him in silence. He walked in and you said goodbye, turning around ready to head back. The realization that you’d need to spend the rest of the day outside with the same group going through activity after activity made you pinch the bridge of your nose in agony.

You wondered if you could still fake getting hurt somehow. Actually, it had taken you and Severus long enough to get to the hospital wing that your group might not even be at the pitch anymore… A great and terrible idea was forming in your head.

…

The hospital wing doors opened ten minutes later and Severus walked out, no longer limping or holding his side. He started walking back to the entrance hall when you called out his name from where you were waiting.

He looked at you confused but approached, “Why did you wait for me?”

You brought your hands up in a shrugging motion, “Well… I had an idea and I thought maybe you’d like to join? Depending on how tolerable getting detention is to you?”

He blinked a few times, “You… want to get detention with me?”

“No! I mean not on purpose, but my idea COULD end in detention…”

He furrowed his dark brows and crossed his arms over his chest. “On with it. I won’t agree to anything if you continue being absurdly vague,” there was irritation in his voice.

You swallowed, “Let’s ditch this stupid field day thing. You don’t want to go back out there and neither do I,” he opened his mouth to reply but you continued quickly, “And no one is in the castle so we could stay inside until dinner when everyone comes back in.”

He sighed heavily, looking into your eyes for several long moments, “So what, you want us both to skip together… together?”

“Yes,” you laughed, “It would be more fun if we didn’t just go our separate ways.”

He stood unresponsive, thinking things over. You rolled your eyes and grabbed his shirt, pulling him along with you as you turned to walk deeper into the castle. You let go of him and he kept walking with you, keeping his arms crossed.

You could feel the question floating around his mind ‘What now? What was your plan?’ but you hadn’t really thought it all through. Normally it was your friend who was in charge of spontaneous ditch days. The only thing you really wanted right now was a good shower…

You turned to Severus but didn’t meet his eyes, “I’ve got an idea… but we’ll need a few things.”

…

You had split up to get a change of clothes – you refused to answer why – and met back up on the fifth floor. You saw him waiting by the stairs, looking around nervously. You tapped his shoulder and jerked your head in the direction you’d be heading.

You arrived at the statue of Borris the Bewildered and turned to the small wooden door to the left of it. You walked up to the door and bent down to the doorknob and whispered the password your friend had told you at the beginning of the year.

The door opened and you pulled him in. He stepped cautiously through the entrance and looked around, wide eyed and lips parted in awe of the chamber.

“The Prefects bathroom,” you said casually, walking over to the small swimming-pool like tub. “My friend’s a Prefect, so naturally she told me about it with the condition I never rat her out.”

You turned and saw his face flushed red as he realized what it was you were suggesting to do. You grinned, ignoring his assumption and set your folded clothes down on a nice smooth-stone bench. You took two towels from a rack and set them down.

He still hadn’t moved from his spot, just looking at what you were doing. You took his bunched up clothes from his hands and set them down next to yours and went to turn on all the odd numbered tabs around the giant tub. Soon the crystal-clear water turned pink and mint green bubbles foamed on the surface. You tested the water and smiled, wiping your hand on your shirt. Severus was still glued to his spot.

You slipped off your shoes and socks and walked carefully into the tub, soaking your athletic shorts and shirt.

“You don’t have to come in if you don’t want to… but its really nice in here,” you let your hair down and flung the band towards the towels.

He opened his mouth to say something, but nothing came out. He was gripping the end of his shirt and twisting it nervously. You swam closer to the edge of the pool and smiled, cupping a few bubbles and bringing them to your face. You blew gently and watched the minty bubbles float up towards Severus.

“I thought we could hang out in here but… if you don’t want to… I mean I understand if you have somewhere else you want to be instead,” you watched him closely as he looked down at his shoes. “If you wanted you could sit on the edge and we can just talk.”

He nodded and sat down at the edge of the small pool, crossing his legs. “How often do you come down here,” he popped a bubble that had landed on his knee.

“Hmm, at least three times a week. Apparently, there is a schedule that gets sent out and everyone has to follow it. My friend told me all the times that were free so… guess I get to enjoy this place too,” you winked at him.

Severus looked away, blushing slightly, “Haven’t been caught yet, then?”

“Not yet, though I’ve never been here at this time and certainly not with…”

He smirked, “You’d really risk getting detention for a wide bathtub?”

You laughed, holding onto the ledge beside him and kicked your feet out, “You can’t judge until you’ve tried it, Severus.”

He looked down at the water carefully and untangled his legs. He removed his shoes and then socks, and slowly dipping his feet in. “Does this count?”

You laughed again, making him smile. His shoulders relaxed more and he leaned back, rolling his head onto his shoulder to keep his eyes on you. His hair fell onto his cheek and caught on his lashes. You turned around and submerged down to your neck and closed your eyes.

The water was warm and smelled like freshly picked roses. The faucets were still on, creating gentle waves that hit against your skin and swirled your hair around. This was the perfect remedy for such a dry summer day spent outside burning and sweating.

One of the small waves crashed harder against your skin and you opened your eyes to find Severus had joined you in the pool. He gripped the ledge and floated easily, maintaining an arm’s length of distance between you both.

“Welcome, Severus. You have officially joined the club,” you pushed hair out of your face.

He smiled slightly, “What’s… your name. I didn’t ask you that earlier…”

“(y/n) (l/n). I’m a (y/h).”

You stretched out your hand to him and he took it, holding it gently and shaking once before taking his hand back. You smiled and looked around at the water glimmering and flowing. The tub was deep enough you couldn’t stand, and it seemed like he also was not able to stand considering he was bobbing as much as you.

“What now,” he asked, looking around.

You laughed, bringing his attention back to you. “What do you mean what now? It’s relaxing. Haven’t you ever relaxed in a tub?”

He shook his head and sunk further under the water. Only his large nose and dark eyes and brows stayed above the water. His tendril-like hair splayed out on the water surface moving like dead seaweed on the ocean shore.

“We can play a game. But I only know one,” you sunk down to his level, waiting for a replay.

He nodded.

You sunk all the way down bellow the surface and swam to the center, resurfacing and throwing your hair back. You waved Severus over and waited for him. He pushed off the ledge and awkwardly paddled to the center.

“Close your eyes.”

He blushed lightly but frowned, “Why?”

You circled him, “You close your eyes and call my name once and wait for me to respond with yours. Then – with your eyes closed – you follow where you last heard me.” You stopped in front of him, “Then when you think you’ve got me. Just reach out. If you graze me you’ve won.” He closed his eyes then and you wasted no time getting as far from him as possible.

“(y/n),” he whispered.

“Louder Severus! Come find me,” you laughed.

He immediately swam to the corner of the tub where you were pressed up against the wall. You carefully moved along the wall and paddled to the center.

“(y/n),” he said louder.

“Severus,” you sang.

He swam towards you again. With every inch he gained you moved farther back until you were pressed up against another wall.

“Are you allowed to move while I’m moving?” He frowned, still closing his eyes as he reached the center of the tub.

You laughed, “Yes and no talking unless it’s my name!” You dodged quickly as he swam towards you again, arms outstretched. You let out a yelp as his finger almost reached your cheek. You swam faster, slowing near the rushing taps. You placed yourself between two of them, holding onto the brass faucets.

“(y/n).”

“Severus,” you couldn’t help but smile.

He swam over to the faucets, arms outstretched. You stayed as still as possible as he ran his hand through every stream, slowly. He moved in front of you, eyes still closed. You watched as his hand carefully cut through the stream to your left and very slowly made its way to your lips. The tip of his finger lightly glided across your bottom lip.

He opened his eyes and looked into yours. His hair was drenched and clinging to his face, small pink droplets resting on top of his lashes. You held his gaze long enough to see his black eyes glance down at your lips, the small droplets falling back into the water.

“You look like you want to kiss me,” you whispered.

He blushed and immediately looked away, moving to position himself between the faucet to your right and the next open faucet, using the rushing water as a curtain to hide behind. You laughed and swam forward to face him the same way he had faced you.

“Do you want to kiss me?”

He looked away and shook his head, “Of course not.”

You nodded and climbed out of the tub, walking towards the towels and picking one up. “Sorry then. I guess I was just projecting onto you,” you smiled, turning to watch him.

You could only see him from the top of his head down to his nose as he peered over the rim of the tub. He watched you carefully, as if waiting to hear more. You felt your cheeks flush as you patted yourself dry and wrung out your athletic uniform as best you could without exposing your skin.

He climbed out as well, clothes clinging to his body, making him look much slimmer than before. He took a towel and followed your lead. You smiled at him, picked up your dry clothes, and walked over to one of the stalls to change.

You took a few extra minutes trying to calm down, hoping your cheeks weren’t are red as they felt and opened the stall door slowly. Severus was waiting for you, carrying his wet clothes in one of the towels and offering you the other one. You took it and copied him.

“(y/n)?”

“Severus?”

“I do want to kiss you,” he stood closer, looking down into your eyes with a longing even you could see.

“I want you to kiss me,” you smiled, inching closer.

“Not because you feel bad for me?”

“Because I want to keep having fun with you. Only you.”

“What now?” he whispered.

“Now you kiss me.”

He closed the distance between his body and yours and looked down at your lips, inching closer with every breath. You could feel droplets falling off his hair and landing on you, and smiled as you felt his breath on your mouth. You closed your eyes just as his warm soft lips met yours.

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